InteroceptionAction · Unraveling the role of interoceptive abilities in aesthetic appreciation of movement
Horizon 2020 — Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions
- Duration
- 2022-09-01 → 2025-08-31
- EU contribution
- €257,210
- Participants
- 2
- Scheme
- MSCA-IF
Lines connect the coordinator with its partners.
Results in brief
Unraveling the role of interoceptive abilities in aesthetic appreciation of movement
Our bodies can perform goal-directed and object-directed actions, such as tying one’s shoes or driving a car, as well as more athletic and artistic movements like dance. Movement can convey meanings and emotions fundamental to social interaction and communication while also being tied to experiences of pleasure. However, our bodies also regulate internal movements and rhythmic processes essential for survival, such as the cardiac and breathing cycles. Although internal and external movements stem from the same body, their relationship and mutual influence on aesthetic evaluation remain poorly understood. Investigating the relationship between our awareness of these internal bodily signals (i.e., interoception) and the perception and evaluation of movement provides insights into how individuals engage with and make sense of the external world. The InteroceptionAction project was structured around four main objectives: 1. Establish the foundations for knowledge transfer with the research group at Macquarie University (Australia) through behavioral and physiological (e.g., electrocardiography, ECG) studies assessing the link between interoception and the emotional and aesthetic evaluation of body and movement. 2. Investigate the time courses and neural correlates of the link between interoception and body/movement evaluation using magnetoencephalography (MEG). 3. Examine the effects of intensive short-term training aimed at enhancing interoceptive abilities and assess its impact on movement evaluation through functional neuroimaging (fMRI). 4. Facilitate knowledge transfer with the research group at Sapienza University of Rome (Italy) and disseminate results through publications and conferences. The project successfully achieved all objectives. Behavioral, physiological, and neuroimaging studies provided converging evidence that the integration of interoceptive (cardiac) and exteroceptive (visual and sensorimotor) information shapes the affective and aesthetic evaluation of the human body and movement. The project advanced interdisciplinary research in neuroaesthetics and embodied cognition, promoting knowledge transfer between Australia and Italy and establishing methodological groundwork for future investigations into how bodily awareness and internal rhythms shape social and aesthetic experience.
Data: CORDIS, © European Union
Project objective
In recent years, neuroscientific research has linked dance aesthetics appreciation to an interplay between the visual, sensorimotor, and reward systems. A specific focus has been on an observer’s familiarity with an action and its kinematic features. At the same time, there has been growing interest in investigating the relationship between individuals’ interoceptive capabilities, emotion perception, and cognitive processes, revealing strong connections between internal body signals and brain responses. Surprisingly, the potential link between interoception and movement appreciation has not been addressed yet, despite previous evidence on kinematics-related emotion recognition and given the theoretical and practical importance of establishing such a link. Specifically, if autonomic functions impact aesthetic experience, then a substantial advancement of theoretical knowledge and cognitive models of (performing) art appreciation will be possible. Knowledge translation to clinical and entertainment frameworks will also facilitate rehabilitation and audience engagement, with pragmatic and financial benefits. The project will investigate the role of interoception in movements aesthetics, in terms of time courses and neural correlates, by modulating both stimuli’ objective features (synchrony between movement speed and observers’ heart rate) and participants’ subjective experience. Neurofunctional methods will be combined with interactive training procedures to obtain precise temporal and spatial measures of brain engagement. As a whole, the action aims to bridge neuroscience and art frameworks providing a strong emphasis on individual differences and embracing open science principles. The action will provide an ideal platform for knowledge transfer between the fellow and both host institutions, and will facilitate the fellow to acquire practical skills, theoretical experience, and develop key collaborations to help him become a world-leading independent researcher.
Original text from CORDIS.
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Data: CORDIS, © European Union